TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -The North Carolina A&T baseball team brought
themselves within one game of claiming the third seed out of the MEAC's
Southern Division by sweeping Florida A&M 7-2 and 7-3 in a doubleheader on Friday afternoon at Moore-Kittles Field.

If the Aggies win on Saturday in the series finale at 1 p.m.,
the Aggies will claim the South's third seed in the MEAC Baseball Tournament May
16-20 in Norfolk, Va. If the Aggies lose, they can also claim the third seed if
Savannah State loses to Bethune-Cookman on Saturday. A third seed would put
into motion a contest against Norfolk State, the No. 2 seed from the North.

"It's two wins, that's the important thing is two wins. We've got to catch some momentum going into
the conference tournament," said A&T head coach Joel Sanchez. "(Florida A&M) is out of it so, we have
the opportunity to go in as a No. 3 seed, so we've got to do our business and
not worry what else is going on."

The Aggies (17-34, 11-12) captured the two victories with
timely hitting and strong pitching performances by southpaw Estarlin Paulino
and right-hander Tyler Boone, who each went the distance in their respective
games.

"Both of them gave us good outings. We didn't expect (complete games) from both
of them, but they did. They threw
strikes and kept the pitch count down," Sanchez said. "There were quite a few quick innings, a few
five-pitch innings. That was good, good
for them. "

A&T took control of the first game in the top of the
sixth. With one out, Andre McKoy singled
to the right side. He took second on a
wild pitch, and FAMU pitcher Marcus Roberts walked catcher Stefan Jordan. With two on and one out, Brandon Wilkerson
hit the ball to short. FAMU worked to
complete a 6-3 double play, but the home plate umpire Kelly Ledbetter called
interference on the play, to load the bases with one out instead of ending the
inning.

Michael Radford was then hit by a pitch, which scored McKoy
and made it a 5-2 contest. Carvell
Copeland then hit into a fielder's choice, and the Rattlers tried to put out
Jordan at home in a force play, but
Jordan was called safe at home for the sixth A&T run. Marquis Riley hit a sac fly to center to
score Wilkerson and put A&T up by five.

A&T starter Paulino (7-4) held the Rattlers scoreless in
the final two frames to secure his third complete game of the year.

The Rattlers trailed 4-1 in the sixth inning of the second
game, when they got the go-ahead run to the plate with one out after loading
the bases on three singles. Catcher Ryan
Sheplak, who represented the go-ahead run, hit a two-run single down the left
field line on a 0-2 pitch to make it a 4-3 contest. The Rattlers then pinch hit Justin Abney for
Tyler Lawson. Abney went down on
strikes. Pinch-hitter Aaron Smith came
up to bat and hit into a rally-ending fielder's choice.

In the top of the seventh, Dairio Little reached on an error
to get things going. Freeman tripled to deep center field to score Little and make it a
5-3 contest. The Rattlers then called on
Stephen Dollar to pitch. Luke Tendler
came up to the plate and singled to right field to score Freeman to put A&T
ahead 6-3. Eric Chiz slammed an RBI
double to center field to give Boone another insurance run. Boone (5-6) picked up the win.

Wilkerson drove in two runs in Game 1, while Tendler drove in two runs in Game 2.